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Hell’s Kitchen “Middleterranean” restaurant ­Taboon
has spawned a Greenwich Village outpost called Taboonette, devoted to
so-called pocket food: meat, seafood, and vegetable fillings stuffed
into pita, folded into wraps, or served over vermicelli-strewn rice. A taboon
is a domed oven, and the source of the midtown flagship’s excellent
flatbread. It’s something of a disappointment, then, to learn that
appearances to the contrary (firewood stacked up along one wall; a
rustic beehive oven in the corner), none of ­Taboonette’s bread is made
in-house, or even uptown. Still, there are plenty of good things to eat
at this friendly ­counter-­service canteen, where customers perch on bar
stools or share two whitewashed picnic tables.

The U.G. was particularly taken with the clever
breakfast-sandwich interpretation of shakshuka, the skillet-cooked egg
dish. Here a sunny-side-up egg is tucked into a puffy, Israeli-style
pita with a ­garlicky tomato-and-onion stew and ­garnished with
cilantro, tahini, and the Yemeni hot sauce srug: a Middle Eastern Egg
McMuffin of sorts. But don’t be fooled. Despite the presence of Israeli
standards like sabich sandwiches and beef-and-lamb kebabs, Taboonette is
no ordinary hummus joint. It takes a much worldlier approach. Hence the
pulled-pork pocket with fennel-jicama-apple slaw and chicharrónes, and
the zucchini cakes loaded with herbs and feta.

Truth be told, we’ve had better chicken shawarma—this one is
actually a loose interpretation of the dish, involving spicy strips of
meat cooked on a griddle rather than the traditional slivers shaved off a
spit. But preserved lemon enlivens a baked-salmon sandwich, and in case
you didn’t know, roasted kruveet (cauliflower) marries very nicely with
grilled eggplant, hummus, and cilantro, when tucked into a whole-wheat
pita. As far as accoutrements go, the vermicelli rice makes a tasty
companion to the grilled meats, and the salads, while not particularly
inspired, are fresh and well-dressed, often with a bright burst of
lemon.

With its subtle hints of Middle Eastern flavor and its secular
worldview, Taboonette won’t transport you to Tel Aviv. But like San
Matteo Panuozzo, it’s striving to expand the notion of the New York
sandwich, one pita pocket (or split pizza dough) at a time. — Robin Raisfeld and Rob Patronite